plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone but her likes 50% more cash, but i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes. cupcakes? yes. do you want an etch-a-sketch? yes! do you want 50% more cash? no. you got talent. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on every purchase plus a 50% annual bonus on the cash you earn. it's the card for people who like more cash. what's in your wallet? i usually say that. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is!

well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. you've mastered monkey-style kung fu? no. priceline is different now. you don't even have to bid. master hahn taught you all that? oh, and he says to say (translated from cantonese) "you still owe him five bucks." your accent needs a little work. okay. do you guys see that little -- look at that little obama doll.

i'm don lemon live from the national mall in washington. it is just past -- just past the half hour here on cnn, live on the mall. it's so amazing here. excitement is building here in washington to mark the end of president obama's first term in office. and another four years. among the traditions on these inaugural weekends are the galas and the parties. and about 90 minutes, a very special host will kick off the kids' inaugural concert and our brooke baldwin is there. i like to call her brookster. brook, are you ready for this the kids' inaugural mall? >> don lemon, i will take your national mall and raise you a couple mega stars in this building, my friend, the first lady of the united states and dr. joe biden, the likes of katy perry and usher and nick cannon, mindless behavior, far east movement. i could keep going. the party will be here, but

truly, the stars tonight are the children. and what's so significant about this, and so near and dear to the hearts of the first lady and dr. biden, the fact that the sacrifices, of course, not just for our men and women in uniform, but for their spouses and for their children, and i have to tell you, across the street i talked to a bunch of kids who are psyched to be here, understand why they're being honored, but really excited for the stars and their singing. take a look. who are you so excited to see perform? >> katy perry. >> reporter: katy perry? >> and my favorite song is "i want to work." >> reporter: can you sing a little of it for me? >> sure. ♪ i'm wide awake ♪ i picked up every piece ♪ that's okay it's because a story now ♪ >> reporter: we were hearing the next, you know, katy perry's out

here on the sidewalk, don lemon. they're thrilled to see the stars perform. but obviously, this is really to honor the men and women in union for the. and as i said, the families. from what i understand, this is a packed house, about 5,500 people. this is a ticket-only event and in talking to some of the folks putting this on, these are hand-picked families from the department of defense, folks from the fischer house, blue star families, the wounded warrior project. and i talked to one dad who was with his daughter, and he wanted to say thank you to the president, thank you to the first lady, to make this so special. watch. >> it's big. it is. it really -- makes everything we go through, you know -- we look around now and it's so beautiful here. and we've been through some hard times. and you know, we looked around at other times and it was kind of different. so to know that they care enough about those times, you know, to put on things, you know, here back home, it just feels wonderful. >> reporter: so as we look forward to this in about an hour and a half, don lemon, you have,

of course, malia and sasha, the first daughters are here. i have been told the grand daughters of dr. joe biden will be here as well. so far no word on whether they'll be on stage. if this is like 2009, i have a feeling we will see them showing off some moves on stage later. nick cannon is hosting. we're hoping to talk to him. we're going to take this live. >> oh, my god, who is not there? >> reporter: don lemon, back to you. you, apparently. >> you're going to have jr martinez live. >> reporter: jr martinez coming up, "dancing with the stars." this is the place to be, my friend. you drew the short straw. >> party, party, party. brooke, see you next hour. thank you, my friend. parties, concerts, celebrities. who is going where? who will be performing? everything you need to know about the inauguration, the social scene. that is next. look at that cute little nugget right there. what are you doing?

nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office.

the inauguration kickstarts the washington social scene into my gear. the beltway party is a concert, president obama showing off his dance moves. ♪ ♪ here i am baby >> how often does that happen, want to bring in our "washington post" writer, writing the reliable source column. four years ago, the obamas raced to ten balls and now they're paring it down to two? >> i think they're consolidated. they will have nearly as many people as last time, about 40,000 people at two balls at the convention center. this means they don't have to travel sarnd as much, frankly. so they will have to dance on

different levels. >> so what kind of dance sequel are you expecting? is he going to dance this time like he did to stevie wonder, dance tunes or anything? is he going to sing? >> i hope we'll see a line dance this time. that would be great. >> what do you think he's going to do? any idea? >> i don't know. i mean, i have no idea. really. >> last time they did the great dance and then beyonce sang. yeah. so this time, what do you think? the excitement is different this time. it's a little bit more reserved and pulled back. >> it always is for a second inauguration. it's just not as big a deal. having said that, i've been astounded by the number of parties, balls, galas, events we have been getting invitations to just in the past three days. >> i've noticed that. at first it was like what happened? like last time i was like i had invites on and on and on. and this time just over the past couple days i've gotten invite after invite. >> two weeks ago i would have said it's quiet this year, the economy, less excitement.

and yet in the past four days, i've gotten invitations to things i had no idea were going to happen. things coming out of the woodwork. i don't know what it is. some people are scaling back instead of having big dance parties at night, a lot of corporations are doing brunches. whether that's actually less expensive or whether it's just supposed to look less expensive, i'm not exactly sure. but you are -- >> you think it's about optics. >> perhaps. i mean, that's certainly with the -- having the two official inaugural balls. >> i've seen so much ink about online and print and even on television, about the first lady's haircut. i wonder if this saturday, if people are going into their salons, amy, saying, hey, listen, can i get the -- michelle obama? yeah. >> yeah. >> what do you think? >> yeah, oh, i think so. we've seen the photo. we're going to want to see how the bangs move. that's what we'll be looking for. >> let's see. >> i've got the side sweep.

she got the straight across much. >> what is your favorite pick, topping your list? >> that's hard to say. i think there are so many events. there's a lot of buzz, though, about the after-after party that rahm emanuel is doing monday night. >> the after-after party? >> the chicago blues party that starts at 11:00 at night, that's the ticket everyone is trying to get into. >> amy argetzinger. i like your poots, boots, i could use them now. it's warm over here where the lights are and freezing here. you came appropriately dressed. i'm not. thank you, amy. always a pressure to see you. the inauguration includes the first lady and we're going to highlight that amazing woman. that is next. hey! did you know that honey nut cheerios

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be happy. be healthy. ms. montana surrounded by 50 other beauty queens on stage, all hoping to become ms. america. but for most of her early life, alexis weinman spent her time alo alone. >> i was very quiet, because i couldn't say anything right. i was picked on for the way i spoke. i really didn't have any friends. >> reporter: her parents knew there was something wrong but their small town of cutbank, montana, didn't have the resources to help figure out what it was. and then at the age of 11, after years and years of searching for answers, a doctor finally put a name to wineman's condition.

pervasive development disorder. a mild form of autism. typically children with autism are very intelligent. but very quiet. socially awkward. and they don't respond appropriately to interactions with other people. typically, they don't end up becoming beauty queens, either. but wineman says one day she simply decided not to let her condition define her. >> i wanted to accept myself and my autism. and i realized that my autism isn't what defines me. i define what is autism. >> reporter: she entered the ms. montana pageant as a way to prove to herself she could do anything she set her mind to. >> i fell in love with the program. good thing, too, because i won. i wasn't expecting to win. but it's funny how things work out sometimes. >> reporter: that win put her on the national stage in las vegas. >> ms. montana! alexis wineman. >> reporter: wineman made it as far as the top 15 and won the america's choice award for garnering the most online voice

votes. she says the whole experience has been an amazing ride. >> i've enjoyed it immensely. there are times when i do feel a little bit overwhelmed. but those are going to happen in life anyway, whether you're going to be in ms. america or not. so i'm willing to take all of that on. >> dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work.

cisco. tomorrow starts here. michelle obama has redefined the role of first lady. okay, you could say every first lady tweaks a role to suit her strengths. michelle obama is the only african to ever serve as first lady. now she is on the verge of another four years in the white house, four years without worrying about another election campaign. we're joined live from california now with professor algore. welcome. how has michelle obama approached the role? >> i think she is doing a good job. i could give her an a-plus. we study the first ladies and we study women, actually. so we get a sense of how politics operates on another sort of sphere. and one of the capacities that the first lady, the role of

first lady, has is that it offers the person who steps into it the chance to be a symbol. to have a kind of symbolizing function. so if she chooses, the first lady can decide whether she wants to be the face of her husband's administration. personifying it and sending out messages that are psychological and emotional in nature. and i think michelle obama has done that. >> you wonder about, you know, a sense of freedom for the second term. you see her, her new hairdo. do first ladies tend to express more freedom during the second term, once a campaign is over? is there less pressure to conform? >> oh, i think there's a lot less pressure all the way around. but i do have a piece of advice for mrs. obama. not that she's asked me for any of it. but one of the other sort of opportunities a first lady has is she can use what we call the unofficial sphere or the social sphere of parties and events to build community. and that capacity for the first lady goes back to our first

first lady in many ways, dolly madson. and it's kind of felting we're talking about the first lady on the inauguration weekend since the very sort of first inaugural ball we think about was held in dolly madison's honor. what dolly madison showed in washington, you can use those parties and social events to build political community. so, again, no one has asked me, but i would give mrs. obama the advice, give a lot more parties and invite everybody. >> and kathryn, you were looking at pictures there, she certainly is a fashionista. nancy reagan was a fashionista and you're talking about dolly madison. how do you compare michelle obama to her most recent predecessors, laura bush, and secretary of state hillary clinton? >> i think that every first lady has to define the role for herself. so there are things that are available to her. she has access, she has chances to exert power. the office of first lady has a

power just in showing up. and i think each of our first ladies that in our living memory have exercised that power very well. i know that mrs. laura bush was an incredibly powerful and effective first lady. but she did it rather quietly and a more mibehind the scenes kind of way. in fact, i would say her career after first lady hood is an example for all first ladies. and, of course, mrs. clinton was a stepping stone to even more power. so i think each woman defines it for herself. and i think mrs. obama has been a good example of that. i'm curious to see what she is going to do in four years. >> we all are. thank you, kathryn. we appreciate it. and you can't talk presidential inauguration without some historical context. so next, experts on the 18th century, the 19th century and one on the to20th century join me on the mall in washington as well as all of these folks.

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you're going to want to watch this. i could have done the whole show on this. apart from the date and the oath of office, most of what we saw on inauguration day is not spelled out in the constitution. and over the years, there has been a lot of unexpected things happen on inauguration day. let's talk about it now with the back story radio's american history guys. peter onoff is a history professor at the university of virginia. edward airs is a historian and president of the university of richmond. and brian balanlo is a universi of virginia history professor. i got it right? host of the public radio program

"back story" with the american history guys. let's get right to it. i love it. let's start with the oath. so peter the words, "so help me god" aren't in the official oath but supposedly george washington ad libbed it and every president since followed his lead. >> yeah, well, we don't know. we'll never know. but i will tell you he invoked providence. >> if you don't know, who knows? come on! >> providence. yes. very much believe that god was a part of this thing. and if god wasn't on our side, to coin a phrase, it was going to go down the tubes. >> okay. so brian, speaking of the oath, president obama took it twice four years ago, and he's going to take it twice this year, too. how unusual is that? ♪ doo-doo doo-doo >> good answer. >> taking it twice four years ago, a third time. there was a little boo-boo. it's not so unusual to take it twice when the inauguration falls on a sunday, which is why he's taking it twice this time around, don.

>> okay. ed. yes. >> i've been told to go fast. we all learned about william henry harrison in school. the president who got sick in his inauguration and died a month later. i'm just joking around. back in 1841. is that really how it happened? >> yes. it was the longest inaugural address in history and turned out to be really bad weather and that turns out to be a really bad combination. >> really? >> yep. >> what other memorable moments from inaugurations past should we know about? there are too many -- >> yeah. well, ed, why don't you talk about lincoln's second inaugural and the fact nobody thought that was a big deal. >> yeah, if you go back and read the press, the inaugural speech considered the greatest in american history now that we actually study and there's very few we do, lincoln's second inaugural, binding up the wounds of the nation and so forth. the response at the time was what was that? what's he actually going to do with the south now? >> yeah, what kind of program is that? >> how did we get to -- how did

we get to a tradition of having poets? it seems like every inaugural we have a poet. >> it's not a tradition. >> john f. kennedy was the first one. >> robert frost in 1961. >> in our lifetimes, don. >> our lifetimes. >> not yours, but ours. >> yeah, you're right. that was pretty close. i started thinking about that ever since -- when maya angelou gave her poem. and i was like, when did we start --. >> it's a great tradition. i think the only thing better would be having a historian. >> or three historians. >> we do mythology at inauguration and created a myth at the first one. that's the big deal. >> peter. >> yeah. >> put president obama into a historical context. >> oh! right. >> in 20 seconds. >> go! >> yeah. well, we're still around. and i think the best they think is to refer back to the second inaugural of lincoln and to imagine a great war to free

slaves that end slavery in america. that one day, a dissen dent of -- well, we think he was, actually. that's right. an african-american would become president is just astonishing. nobody could have predicted it in a period when african-americans didn't have civil rights. so i think that's -- >> also within our lifetime. >> yeah, right. >> go ahead. >> i'm just saying that the pivot -- because if you were to look back and see what has shaped so many inaugural, so many elections all along, it's the questions of race and slavery. you know. the one that came closest to blowing up is 1877 when hayes came in and they think the civil war is going to break out again because the two parties are so close. >> for some reason, republicans and democrats didn't get along back then. can you imagine that? >> my gosh. i could sit and listen to these guys -- i'm at a loss for words. i listen to you guys and the producers are like let's go, and

i'm like, go on. thank you. such a pleasure to meet you. >> see you in four years. >> don't go away. we'll talk more in the break. and i would like to have you guys back on. i really enjoy listening. >> thank you. this is where it is all happening. the inaugural weekend, a celebration of our electoral process and a moment of great pride for everyone in this country. more from the mall in washington. that's next.